Open Enrollment is in Full Swing

Open enrollment for CoveredCA, Medicare and most employer group plans is HERE NOW. It is very important that you stop, take a look (review your plan, your needs, your network of doctors, etc.), shop and commit to a plan in a timely manner as this is your open enrollment period. Once open enrollment closes, you will not be able to obtain or change insurance unless you experience a qualified event.

CoveredCA will remain open until Dec. 15th for an effective date of 1-1-2016. If you miss that deadline, your new insurance will not start until the next month which will likely leave you with a gap in coverage and owing the government for the month(s) you weren’t insured. If you are renewing a plan through CoveredCA and have to make changes, watch out! CoveredCA has implemented the auto-renew feature in their system for those enrolled who have not taken action to renew on their own. This feature is to ensure that people do not end up uninsured for 2016. However, you are responsible for ensuring your information is correct (income, address, number of family members, etc.) for the upcoming year. The CoveredCA system can be a bit tricky and I have some clients that the system has auto-renewed and there is no way at this time to make a change in plan or sometimes to update other data. Don’t worry, all of this can be fixed either later in December when the system will allow for the changes, or early January when either the system will allow updates or the phone lines at CoveredCA cease to be over 2+ hours wait time. If you are receiving a subsidy, it is very important to get your 2014 taxes completed so that you can “prove” your eligibility for the 2016 subsidy and hopefully, avoid penalties. You should be as exact as possible about forecasting your income for 2016 to avoid penalties and subsidy pay-back. If you are enrolled directly with a carrier for your insurance, you still need to renew (most carriers give you options for your renewal). If you don’t renew/change/cancel with the carriers, your insurance will likely auto-renew and you will be responsible for the premium payments even if you wanted different insurance. If you need assistance with obtaining a CoveredCA plan or an individual/family plan directly with the carrier, contact Benefit Authority. We make your life simple when it comes to your medical insurance.

Medicare open enrollment is here now through December 7th so if you are shopping for a new plan, need a supplement or a drug plan (Medicare Part D), now is the time to be looking and signing up. Remember, if you have Medicare Part A and Part B and have not signed up for a drug plan at your initial enrollment period (or when your Part B of Medicare started), you are looking at a penalty on the premium for a drug plan. The penalty only goes up the longer you wait. Most people will need some prescription drugs as they age and the drugs are some of the mostly costly parts of medical coverage. For more information about your Medicare options, contact Deborah O’Connell directly for assistance.